William K. - ENGL 1101 - Fall 2020 - Hip-Hop Reader - PEASE

As soon as the music video starts they show photos of newspaper slandering RUN D.M.C by stating that they are a danger to the youth. RUN D.M.C is considered a rap group but they like to incorporate rock themes and instrumentals into their music. The song illustrates how people do not appreciate their rock style music and will not accept them while still being considered a hip hop/rap group. Another topic found in the video is how “Mary” is always trying to frame the rap group for doing vulgar acts but in turn, it is just a coincidence that the actions seem vulgar when they are not at all vulgar or inappropriate. In the screenshot from the music video below the headline of the newspaper is “ U.S. YOUTH THREATENED BY RUN-DMC LYRICS”.

When people think of hip hop they usually associate it with rap but in the song “Mary Mary” they combine the two to create a rap-rock cover of the song “Mary Mary” by The Monkees. Tricia Rose states in her book “Rap Music” “ The bulk of the press coverage on RUN-DMC regarding their “forays into rock” suggested that by using rock music rap was maturing.” (17) This statement alone shows how RUN-DMC changed the culture of other genres of music being incorporated into music as a normality. This scene shows how Run-DMC is still able to include turntables into their live shows even though they are incorporating rock music into their songs. The setting of the video has very fun and exciting vibes. The colors portrayed are mostly bright red and pink flashes and includes a lot of fireworks. They are surrounded by a lot of fans with fast pacing camera cuts and unique angles. Mary accuses people of having sex in a van and blames the influence on RUN-DMC (1:33 - 1:38). A lot of the shots in the music video are close up shots that really show the rap group’s emotions. The camera also specifically targets who is rapping at that point to show emphasis on their verse and differentiate between the two. Using the ⅓ rule throughout the video when the camera switches scenes back to the live stage a ⅓ of the screen was covered by their fans hand. Most of the music video takes place at night whether it be during the live stage or in the parking lot/ road.

This scene shows Mary approaching a car filled with smoke and she automatically assumes that they are smoking drugs. She immediately suspects the suspects to be RUN-DMC smoking an explicit drug. When she opens the door she sees monks in the car who told Mary that the group told them to keep a healthy mind and are spiritually in touch with themselves.

These two interactions between the group on the bus and the group on the car show how the group has positively impacted their community even though Mary wants to bash their name and show ways they are negatively affecting their community. When people think of a rap song they think of vulgar language and the sexualization of women and drugs. They never consider rock to be a stepping stone or even other genres to be a stepping stone for most rap songs created. RUN-DMC made this song to show how people always thought of their songs as a way to promote violence and drugs but rebuttal in the music video by showing ways that they promote good health and well being during the course of the four minutes. Their use of rock in this song really showed how they were different from most rap songs created during their times and put a big emphasis on sampling sounds and songs.